Vines
by GeekWayne
Summary: Rose is a loyal medic of S.T.O.R.M, but is tired of her past injury making her feel useless. When her thought to be dead teacher, Ryu, comes to her in a dream with a miracle medicine to make her strong and healthy once again it's almost too good to be true. Little does Rose know, her loyalty will be questioned as the vines of her teacher's dark past close in on her.
1. Prologue

Everyone thought he was dead. Those that were close and his enemies thought he had perished after falling off that mountainside and being pinned by a boulder to the snowy ground. Ryu knew himself better than anyone. The aging man lived out of spite. He had to live. That witch tried to kill him, but he survived.

Getting off the ground was ok. Amputating his destroyed left arm wasn't too bad either with frostbite settling in. He could barely feel a thing at that point. What was hardest for Ryu was moving on and leaving Rose. Ryu had to admit he'd gotten close to Rose in his two years of training her to become a medic. She was so kind and gentle to those around her. People didn't come like that anymore. He definitely had a soft spot for the young girl. Ryu didn't want that witch Charlemagne getting a hold of her.

To make sure Ryu knew where Rose was at all times, he spent the next two years developing his Monsuno Sight. All Ryu needed was a Monsuno on Rose to keep up with her every move. That Monsuno ended up being Vertigo. Even with Jeredy's genetic tampering to make the creature Rose's it still had previously belonged to Ryu. Ryu used Vertigo's eyes to watch over Rose, even while the creature rested in its core.

In the meantime, Ryu had trusted Jon Ace to keep Rose safe. The commander was her adoptive father after all. That turned out to be a mistake when Klipse all but killed the man, turning him into a weapon. It was such a pity, but nothing the former S.T.O.R.M medic could do. He had no quarrel with Jon Ace, but he didn't feel the need to give up his secrecy to help the man. Ryu continued to lurk in Vertigo's head, unnoticed by Rose or her friends. He found it pitiful that there were others in the group with the Monsuno Sight that did not sense him.

What Ryu did not expect was for Charlemagne to contact Rose and meet up with her soon after Jon's "death". Charlemagne had given Rose the Monsuno called Earthshaker, an uncontrollable malicious beast with a hatred for any human. The commandant marshal claimed it had belonged to Jon Ace and that Rose was next in line to get the creature. She feigned sorry and pity for the in-training medic. Ryu wanted scream it was a trap. He wanted to punch Charlemagne in her manipulative face. If Ryu had not been in the Mandalan Mountains when the exchange had occurred he would have given up his secrecy to protect Rose. The former S.T.O.R.M medic was well aware of Charlemagne's manipulative ways. He knew her plan was for Rose to be naïve enough to launch Earthshaker, dooming herself and Team Core-Tech along with her.

And Rose did launch Earthshaker not too long after that. Ryu mourned Rose that day for he truly believed she was dead. He watched from Vertigo's shocked eyes as the Monsuno's flaming claws slapped into her. That sweet girl was dead and he could have prevented it by killing that witch long ago. Ryu could hear a shattering heart from a mile away and that shattering heart came from the lowlander Rose had addressed as Dax. The old man thought it would benefit him to continue seeing through Vertigo's eyes, this time from the lowlander's point of view. Maybe he would find some closure through this.

Dax was harder to read than Rose. His thoughts were cloudy and angry. From what Ryu could gather from Rose, she held all the love in the world for Dax and the lowlander returned it. Ryu could remember when he felt that for his wife. Dax's thought patterns resembled Ryu's after the death of his wife and daughter in the avalanche that Charlemagne had caused by landing her soldiers on an unstable peak. But unlike Ryu, Dax's spirits had been lifted. Rose was alive.

Ryu's trainee was still alive, but barely. It turned out One-Eyed Jack had patched her up and bandaged her. The man was definitely no medic. Ryu knew he had to have used Monsuno essence in some way to keep her from fully dying. Ryu couldn't get in Jack's head though, not without Freedomstriker or Charlemagne seeing him. It didn't matter to the medic. Rose was alive and surviving. She was a little survivor just like him.

The ex-medic thought this was the turning point for Rose. Ryu believed she'd come to his side or even end Charlemagne for him. The opposite happened. To the medic's horror, Rose was willing to forgive Charlemagne. She believed with enough help, Charlemagne could return to society. His little trainee had even gone under the tutelage of her brother, Felix. It boiled his blood.

Ryu took a step back from his spot on the mountainside where he was watching Cloud Carrier Epsilon land. It looked like it was time to stop reminiscing and put his plan in motion. He stood with the help of his wooden walking stick. Ryu made sure to adjust his purple robe, wrapping it tightly around the nub of his right arm. It would a shame if the fabric caught on a crag or branch in his descent towards the aircraft.

The sun felt warm on Ryu's dark skin. He ran his left hand over the tattoo on his chin and over the ones under his eyes. It was as good a day as any to cause some chaos. Maybe soon it'd be a good day to take down his enemy.

Ryu knew Rose would side with him. All she needed was a little push.


	2. Chapter 1- Teacher

Rose sprinted down the corridor to the room in the sick bay that she shared with Felix on Cloud Carrier Epsilon. Her shoes were in her hands, bare feet thumping against the ground. There was no time to slip them on because she was late once again. The young medic knew Felix was going to kill her. This had been the fourth time Rose was late for her duties.

The young woman burst into the room, startling the taller and older man inside. Papers for his hands fluttered to the ground. He glared daggers at Rose. All she had to give him in response was a meek smile.

"Good morning, Felix," Rose shyly greeted.

"What's so good about it?" Felix grumbled, stooping down to pick up the papers to a file. "You're late again, there are new recruits coming in, and now Siarl's file is all over the ground!"

Felix stood out from the other medics. This was mostly thanks to a freak accident involving nuclear power and Monsuno essence. The man towered above everyone in S.T.O.R.M, his skin was so pale it was almost translucent, and his hair was a shimmery white. His looks paired with his personality made him practically unapproachable to most people aside from Rose. Being Charlemagne's brother didn't help get him friends either. But Felix didn't exactly take just anyone as good company.

Rose crouched next to Felix. She took the papers the older medic had already picked up and continued gathering the rest.

"I got this," she smiled apologetically at Felix ", you go gather the other files for today's appointments. Siarl is assigned to me anyways."

Felix stood with a huff. "I'm glad you got the downer job instead of me."

He walked to the cabinet and began to sort through all the files. Rose sighed as she finished gathering the papers. Felix didn't show it, but he did care about Siarl's condition. That was his nephew after all.

"I'm going to go check up on our guest," Rose said as she headed towards the door that led from their shared office space to Siarl's room.

"Don't call him that," Felix snapped ", this isn't a bed and breakfast or something."

Rose laughed nervously as she stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. She was greeted to the rhythmic beeping of Siarl's heart monitor. It was steady as ever. Rose headed to the sink in the corner of the room. She watched the thirteen year old boy's chest rise and fall.

After washing her hands and putting gloves and a face mask on, Rose began her daily routine with Siarl. She checked his vitals, washed him, changed his clothes, changed the sheets on his bed, replaced the bags for his catheters, and made sure he was getting enough water. The young medic made sure to change gloves and wash her hands in between each step of the process. Later she would feed him through a tube. It was hard work, but vital for the boy's health.

When Rose finished up with changing the child's bandages she removed her gloves and washed her hands one final time. Rose walked over to Siarl. She gently brushed the boy's bangs out of his face with her burn covered hand. Rose noticed how similar her wounds from Earthshaker were to Siarl's. It made her feel a kinship to the boy.

As Rose entered back into the office Felix stood from his desk to greet her. He looked down at the small, young woman.

"How is he?" Felix asked.

Rose shrugged, "The same as always. At least he's not getting worse."

Felix nodded. He pat Rose's fluffy hair. She tilted her head in confusion at the sudden moment of affection. Felix gave a brief, nervous cough.

"Are you sleeping ok? To say you look tired would be an understatement right now," Felix tilted Rose's head up so he was looking into her eyes. "Is your medicine working?"

Rose shook her head, "I still have the chronic pain all over the left side of my body."

The Core-Tech merger had been rough for Rose. It wasn't trying to get along with the S.T.O.R.M troops or follow Jon Ace's orders; it was her own body's fault. When Earthshaker mauled her, it almost killed her. The whole left side of her body was severely burned and left her bleeding out. When One-Eyed Jack and the Desert Wolves found her they had the crazy idea of using some Monsuno essence they had stolen to heal her. It had worked in its own twisted way. Unlike Jon or Felix, Rose had barely changed. Her wounds closed up. Recovery was difficult, but doable. It appeared that she was going to live with only a blind left eye and horrible scarring all over the left side of her body as a consequence. Boy was she wrong.

It seemed the stress from battling the forces of Klipse and Professor Tallis had strained Rose. She started collapsing, coughing up blood, and began to have seizures. When Felix examined her, he discovered Rose had internal wounds from Earthshaker's attack that did not heal. The past few months had been filled with surgeries, rehabilitation, the development of chronic pain, and testing medicines. Rose was cracking under the pressure, but didn't want her friends to see it.

"Well I'll see what else I can give you," Felix sighed as he placed his hands on Rose's shoulders. He was trying his hardest not to show worry, but the wrinkles in between his brows gave it away. "I can't have you shirking your work."

Rose grabbed his hands, giving her superior a big smile. "How about we just run away and start that bed and breakfast together?"

Felix rolled his eyes and went back to his desk to fill out paperwork. Rose was about to go to her desk when the Core-Tablet on it chirped. The young medic gave the device a tap, pulling up a message.

"Hm, it seems dad wants to see me for some reason."

* * *

Commandant Marshall Jon Ace's office was relatively comfortable. Instead of just the basic furniture that had furnished the office since it was built, Jon added a few family photos to the mix. A few were of him and Rose at different ages in her life. One of them was when she was three and he had taken her to a carnival on his off time. Another was of Rose first joining the Strike Squad as their field medic. She looked so shy and scared standing next to Alpha, but X-Ray had a hand on her back to steady her. The two most recent photos featured Rose with Team Core-Tech, Dax's arm slung around her and all the kids grinning. The one on his desk was of him and Rose just after he had been rewarded the title of Commandant Marshall. She was hugging him so tight, so happy to have him back and not Toxic Ace.

Rose had been Jon's daughter since a recon mission years ago. It was only a team of two: Jon Ace and Trey. The two were still only elites at the time. Their goal was to find any survivors in a decimated town brought to ash from some sort of bomb. Jon had pulled her out of the rubble and had taken it upon himself to raise her. She was only three and could barely say her own name. He didn't know what possessed him to keep the tiny child, but he'd stuck with his decision and tried to be the best father he could be at only age 23.

Jon would not call himself Father of the Year, but he thought he'd done the best he could. He felt he had done more than Jeredy Suno. Jon loved the man, but the way Jeredy was so absent from Chase's life disturbed him. At least Jon let Rose know what was happening. He made sure Rose understood Charlemagne was losing it and that she needed to go find Chase to keep him safe. Jon just chalked up Jeredy's odd behavior as a side effect of Sophia Suno's disappearance along with the amount of intense stress that Charlemagne's work put him under. The Commandant hoped that with Sophia's return and some therapy Jeredy would get better. Chase really needed him.

Currently Jon was sitting at his large desk. His fingers drummed the desk rhythmically as he watched the large door. He hoped Rose hadn't gotten lost again. This was important. He had finally found a way for his daughter to feel important to S.T.O.R.M even with her disability. Jon knew being barred from Core-Tech's missions and not being able to leave the cloud carrier was beginning to wear her down. She needed something to occupy her time.

A reluctant knock sounded from behind the door. Jon smiled softly.

"Permission to enter!" he called.

The door slid open, revealing his daughter's small frame. As Rose entered she smoothed out her uniform to the best of her ability. The medic gave a salute.

"Yes dad-! Um! I mean, sir!" Rose stammered out.

Jon chuckled, "At ease, Rose. It's just you and me. You're allowed to call me dad. Come have a seat. You look tired."

Rose took the invitation, flopping on one of the plush couches of the room. She still had no idea what Jon could want from her, but at least she was resting her aching muscles. Her good eye followed Jon as he got up and sat next to her. Jon reached his arms around Rose and pulled her into a hug.

"You know I love you, right?" he asked.

Rose hugged back tight. She missed her dad. He had to work all the time since he was S.T.O.R.M's boss now. It was rarely ever just the two of them. She knew there wouldn't be any dad and daughter vacation time for a while either.

"I do," Rose mumbled into his chest.

They pulled away from one another, Jon still smiling. Rose hadn't seen Jon not have a super serious face in a long time. He must be really excited about something.

"I called you here for a really important reason," Jon said.

Rose's heart fluttered. Was he going to ask her to go on a mission? Was she going to get to join Core-Tech on a mission? Heck, she'd take a recon mission with Strike Squad! She just wanted to leave the base for a while.

A knock at the door brought Rose out of her thoughts. Who could that even be? She didn't know Jon had called others.

"Come in," Jon instructed.

The door slid open to reveal a girl that was maybe only one or two years younger than Rose. She wore one of the new recruit uniforms that cadets usually brandished right after getting out of boot camp. Felix had mentioned earlier new recruits were coming in today. Maybe this one was just lost.

Rose studied the girl. She had bright, excited eyes. Her light blue hair was ruffled and soft looking. A card key hung around her neck so she could get into different wings and rooms until S.T.O.R.M's database registered her handprint for the key pads.

"Samantha reporting for duty, Commandant Marshall Jon Ace, sir," she said with a grin.

"At ease, Samantha," Jon Ace ordered. He stood and shook the girl's hand, his large hand engulfing her smaller one. He then turned his attention back to Rose.

"Samantha is a new member of S.T.O.R.M that's still trying to find her place here. She was working with the cooks below deck, but it wasn't working out," Jon explained.

Rose wrinkled her nose. Was that why food was coming up extremely burnt or disgustingly undercooked lately? Dax had been joking that someone new must have been in the kitchens. Jon continued.

"I figured that you of all people know how hard it is to find a place in S.T.O.R.M. I was hoping you could take her under your wing as your apprentice."

Rose felt a mixture of shock, pride, and anxiety. She felt honored that her father deemed her worthy of teaching another all there was about being a medic, but she didn't feel ready. Plus, taking an apprentice meant rarely leaving the ship. She wouldn't be able to be a field medic anymore!

"D-Dad-! I mean Commandant Marshall Jon Ace, I am honored, but I'm only seventeen. I'm still training under Felix. Isn't he supposed to still be teaching me? I'm his assistant," Rose feebly tried to excuse herself from the situation.

"I think it would be good for you to move up into being an actual medic. You can still assist Felix, of course. But Samantha will now assist you and in return get valuable knowledge to help those around her. Doesn't that sound rewarding? It would be just like when Ryu took you as an apprentice when you were only thirteen and when Felix took over your training after S.T.O.R.M and Core-Tech merged. I know Samantha is only slightly younger than you, but you have years of experience and knowledge on her. She needs your guidance."

"B-But-!" Rose whined.

Jon crossed his arms. He was getting defensive. "Rose, I understand things have been difficult for you lately. This is a lot to adjust to. The last surgery you had to fix a hernia in your stomach was really hard on you physically. I have to relieve you of your duties as field medic for at least several months."

"Dad! I-!" Rose began to argue.

"And before you say anything else, I talked to Team Core-Tech about it. They all agree that it's better if you stay here till you get better. Once you've healed more I'll let you go on missions again. We don't need to be in the middle of a vital mission and you collapse under the stress or have a seizure. Are we clear, Rose?"

"Yes, dad," Rose mumbled.

"Pardon? I didn't hear you," Jon's eyes bore into his daughter. "Look at me when I'm talking to you, young lady."

Rose looked up, eyes resting on Jon's lips. He never understood why she couldn't look others in the eyes. "Yes, Commandant Marshall Jon Ace. I understand."

Jon grunted, "Good. Now go take Samantha and get to know one another. I know when Team Core-Tech returns from their mission in Coastal City you won't be able to separate yourself from Dax the rest of the evening."

Rose flushed red. She glanced at Samantha who looked equally as awkward to be present during this argument. The young medic rose from her seat. Before leaving Jon stopped her at the door and enveloped her in another hug.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you, Rose. I'm just so worried. I want you to be happy and safe. I promise you, as soon as you show some improvement I'll assign you to a mission," Jon said this soft enough so Samantha could not hear. He didn't want his image to slip too much in front of the new recruit.

"I know dad. I'll see you after dinner," Rose replied with a reluctant smile.

Rose left the room, Samantha following quick on her heels before the door slid shut. Rose turned to face the girl. Samantha was tall enough for Rose to have to look up to talk to her. What was with everyone being so much taller than her?

As soon as Rose faced her, Samantha let out a giddy laugh. She grabbed Rose's hands tightly. The trainee's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Oh my krag! I am so excited to meet you! I can't believe I'm training under you!" Samantha said with so much cheer in her voice that Rose could put a taste to the sound of her voice. The sound was like a fizzy root beer float on her tongue.

"Th-Thanks," Rose stammered ", it's n-nice to you meet you too."

"You can't imagine how excited I was when Jon sent me a message on my Core-Tablet saying he wanted me to work with you! You of all people!"

"I don't really see what's so special about it?" Rose nervously laughed. It was hard to stay calm around this much energy bottled up in one human. She had a feeling Felix was not going to like her.

"You're so good at your work! You know every plant, ever. You've saved people's lives! With, like, plants!" Samantha cheered.

"Oh, um, I was just doing my job. You'll see. You'll save people too," Rose shyly replied.

Samantha softly smiled down at Rose. Rose turned around and began to walk off. Samantha caught up to her in a few strides and grabbed her new mentor's hand.

"Where are you going?" Samantha asked.

"To show you the medical wing," Rose replied ", I need to show you where you'll be working with me. I also need to introduce you to Felix."

"You mean the Ghost of the Sick Bay?"

Rose stopped in her tracks and turned around. She looked up at Samantha, a serious look in her eyes.

"Please, for the love of all that is good in this world, do not call him that. Unless you immediately want to be on his shit list. Which, trust me, you don't," Rose shook her head ", Rule number one of being my apprentice: Leave Felix alone. Let me talk to him."

"Yikes. I guess I have lot to learn, huh?" Samantha chuckled.

Rose sighed, "You have no idea."


	3. Chapter 2 - Dream Weaver

Author's Notes: Thank you so much for the wait! Um. This chapter ended up super long. I'm going to try and start making them a bit shorter. I ended up having a lot of ideas for this chapter and they got smushed together.

Abigail Parker belongs to aiskuriimuneko, Samantha belongs to Glowy, Felix belongs to Metaveil, and Siarl belongs to herpalerp-derpin. Thank you for letting me use your characters. I hope I wrote them ok.

Please leave a review. They keep me going.

* * *

"Rose."

The medic nuzzled closer to Dax. She had fallen asleep on the lowlander after their movie marathon in her room. The laptop still lay on the bed, the battery dead. Dax didn't want to disturb what little sleep Rose could get. So he flopped back on the bed and held her close. It had definitely been easier for Rose to sleep with Dax around.

"Rose, I have something to say. You know to listen when grownups are talking to you, do you not?" The voice was ragged, like the person it belonged to had been crying for a long time. An unknown accent laced each of the carefully picked out words. It sounded so familiar.

Rose slowly opened her eyes. What stood before her left her breathless. It was her mentor, Ryu. Aside from a missing arm and odd purple-grey streaks in his mostly black hair, he looked the same as the day he'd died during that dangerous mission. His eyes had an eerie purple glow to them, but were still wise. His dark skin was still weathered and slightly wrinkled from stress. The familiar arrow tattoos that rested under his eyes along with the line that began from his bottom lip and went down his chin still stood out amongst his features. He gave Rose a genuine grin.

Ryu reached out and stroked the scarred side of her face. His hand was cold to the touch and felt like cotton brushing against her face. This had to be a dream.

"Look what that witch did to you. She is a monster," Ryu growled.

Rose wanted to reach out and grab his hand, but she couldn't move. It was like she was experiencing sleep paralysis. Dax wasn't reacting to Ryu either. So that must be it. It was just a hallucination caused by sleep paralysis. Probably a side effect of the new pain medication Felix had given her.

"Wh-What do you w-want?" Rose asked Dream Ryu. She might as well communicate with it since it was sure trying its best to communicate with her.

Ryu laughed. It was noisy and ended with him coughing. He looked really sick and frail.

"It is not what I want, Rose," Ryu said with a smile ", but it is what you want and what I can do for you."

Rose gave her old mentor a confused look. The look only made Ryu begin laughing again. Rose gave another furtive glance at Dax, but the lowlander was still snoring away. When she turned her attention back to Ryu, he had stopped laughing. In fact he was wearing a rather serious look on his weathered face.

"You are such a sweet, innocent child, Rose," Ryu said softly, "You remind me so much of my daughter."

Ryu brushed Rose's bangs out her face. The feeling of Ryu's skin against her own sent waves of fear and panic. That fuzzy cotton texture of his skin as if he were real but not really freaked Rose out. Ryu began to speak once more.

"You are not going to get any better with their help, Rose."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

Ryu smiled down at her. He was giving the look of someone that knew everything, sometimes even before it happened. It was slightly condescending.

"What I mean," he sighed, "Is that no matter how many surgeries Jon and Felix put you through, no matter how much rest you get, you will not get any better without a little extra help."

"Who exactly is this extra help? You?"

Ryu examined the nails on his remaining hand idly. "Yes, I did say I was here to help you. But I need some help to help you. Since I cannot be with you, I need you to do the hard work sadly."

"That is…um…confusing," Rose mumbled. Rose was unsure if the former S.T.O.R.M medic heard her, but he did answer her.

"Let me say it differently. I know something on this base that can ease your pain and even help heal you over time. You will have to prepare the medicine on your own, sadly."

"Because you're dead," Rose whispered.

"Because I have moved on," Ryu huffed.

"Where is it? What is it?"

"Wow, you certainly have learned to ask questions since I have been gone. Is it that little group you travel with the reason you are not such a turtle anymore?"

Rose's eyes widened. She felt a warm feeling rush over her. It was comforting that Ryu could see her from the afterlife. "You've been watching over me this whole time."

"Just think of me as your guardian angel, Squirt," Ryu chuckled.

Rose felt relief at this comment. She couldn't help giggling at the use of Ryu's familiar nickname for her too. This wasn't some creepy Hand of Destiny mind trap or Klipse poisoning her through her medicine. This was just some stressed induced dream. Her body was just trying to make her feel better emotionally.

"Do you remember my pipe?" Ryu asked suddenly.

Rose's eyes widened. "You mean the one you used to smoke that weird plant? Of course I remember it. You always smelled so odd."

"Well that's the cure, Squirt," Ryu said as he pulled a flower from his pocket.

The petals were a lavender color with dark purple accents at the tips. The long petals of the flower made the plant look star shaped. The old medic brought it close to Rose's face. She could smell its sickeningly sweet odor. It was like honey mixed with too much cinnamon and slightly like rotten meat. Rose wrinkled her nose at the smell. Ryu laughed at her response.

"Yes, yes, I know Shade is not for everyone, but I promise that it will make you feel better," he assured Rose. He tucked the plant back in his pocket.

"I'm not much of a smoker," Rose said meekly, "Is there another way to take it?"

"If you ate it you would vomit for a week. No, there is no other way. Just trust me."

There was urgency in Ryu's voice. His outline was getting fuzzy. Rose could hear voices that did not belong to her or her mentor. Ryu was looking back and forth, as if watching for something. A white light was growing behind the old medic, causing him to fade. Ryu pet Rose's hair and smiled sadly.

"I am running out of time, Rose. Find the Shade flower and my pipe. Grind up its petals and smoke it at least once a day. You'll feel better, I promise," Ryu kissed her forehead before fading completely in a puff of black and purple smoke.

The smoke wrapped around Rose, filling her lungs. She began to cough. It was so thick. She couldn't breathe! What was this?

"Sweetie, are you ok? Rose? Rose?!"

Rose bolted to a seated position. She was still coughing hard. Looking up she saw Dax looking down at her, a worried expression on his face. As Rose caught her breath, the Lowlander wiped the drool from her face. When Rose began to calm down, Dax pulled her into his lap. He nuzzled her.

"Are you ok, Sweetie? You were having some kind of dream. You kept wiggling and then you started coughing," Dax said with is face buried in her hair. This coupled with the lightheadedness from coughing made him sound far away and fuzzy.

"I'm fine," Rose lied, "I just had a weird dream about my old mentor."

"You mean the guy who fell off a cliff?"

"Yea, Ryu was his name. He was telling me he had some miracle cure to make me feel better. Isn't that strange?"

Dax laughed. "I hate to break it to you, but unless your mentor was some sort of wizard there is no instant cure for what you have."

Rose wilted. "Oh, I know. Dad's keeping me on base until further notice."

Dax hugged Rose tightly against his chest. She could feel the thudding of his heart against her back. The dark skinned teen kissed her cheek.

"No hard feelings, Sweetie? The group just wants what's best for you. If you're traveling all the time there's no bleezin' way you're going to heal up all the way."

Rose turned her head so she could return the kiss. Her lips brushed the corner of his mouth. She adored these tender moments. "No hard feelings, baby."

Dax shivered. "It's rare you call me 'baby'."

"Hm, if I get this kind of reaction out of you, then I need to do it more often," Rose giggled.

Dax's face reddened. He picked Rose up and sat her back on the bed. Rose smiled with the satisfaction that she got under Dax's skin. She pulled a t-shirt and jeans over the boxers and sports bra she had worn to bed. The medic had actually gotten a decent night's sleep aside from the odd dream. Since she woke up on time there was plenty of time to get breakfast and a shower before working with Felix that day.

"Want to get breakfast with me, Daxy?" Rose asked.

"You know the answer to that already, Sweetie."

* * *

The mess hall was crowded with bustling soldiers getting ready for their shift along with the night guard getting something to eat before bed. Breakfast that morning was French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and a glass of orange juice. The prepared meals at S.T.O.R.M had always been Rose's favorite part of living here. Working for S.T.O.R.M used to be a special kind of hellish torture, but at least the food was great.

Rose carried her tray over to the table Team Core-Tech sat with Dax following close behind. Bren and Chase were already digging into their food. Beyal was reading a book while he ate, careful not to get syrup on the ancient pages of the text. Jinja looked like she was about to fall asleep while sitting. Bren looked up from his gorging to smirk at Dax and Rose.

"Look who decided to show up! What were you two lovebirds up to last night?" Bren asked around a mouthful of food. Jinja looked at him in disgust, but didn't have the energy to mock him.

Rose became instantly flustered at what Bren was implying. She stammered out a string of incoherent noises. Words didn't work whenever she got this strung up. Dax thankfully covered her.

"We were just watching some films, Glasses. Sweetie's got me watching all the _Jurassic Park_ movies again," Dax smiled and ruffled Rose's head.

"And I was hoping we could watch _Land Before Time_ tonight," Rose added.

Dax nodded and sat down next to Jinja, leaving enough space for Rose to squeeze on the bench next to him. Bren rolled his eyes at the boring response and continued eating. Rose looked up at Jinja. She usually complained when Dax sat next to her.

"Jinja, are you ok?" Rose asked.

"Mm? Oh, I'm fine, Rose. Just tired. Beyal and I are going on a mission to document some Monsuno energy levels Jeredy has discovered here. He thought it would be good to take a look while Cloud Carrier Epsilon is still docked. So I spent most of the night studying maps of the landscape," Jinja let out a huge yawn when she finished explaining.

"It's odd that a huge burst of Monsuno energy comes up after we land," Chase added. "My dad scanned the valley before we docked Cloud Carrier Epsilon. It started up the night after."

"And with all the new recruits here we can't risk a disaster," added a voice outside the group.

Rose looked up to see Alpha standing next to her at the end of the table. The medic visibly cringed, edging closer to Dax. She did nothing to hide her fear of her past superior. Out of all the kids Charlemagne groomed to be soldiers, Alpha had been the most willing to do anything to get higher in her favor. This included hurting defenseless medics that were paired with the Strike Squad.

The corners of Alpha's lips pulled into a frown, he held his hands up slightly to try and ease Rose, but it did nothing to calm her. He sighed, letting his hands drop to his sides. He continued addressing Chase. "If something were to attack the base there would be a lot of unprepared newbies that could get hurt. The sooner we see what's going on the better."

Chase nodded in agreement. "Are you going with Jinja and Beyal, Alpha?"

"Yes. Tango will be joining me as well."

"Awwww," Bren groaned. "I was hoping Tango and I could hang out!"

"Shut it, Lover Boy," snapped Alpha. "Tango has a sworn duty. You can try to pitifully romance her _**AFTER**_ she completes the mission."

With that, Alpha left. Rose watched fearfully as the red headed teen stormed off towards his teammates' table. He addressed Tango and pointed to Bren. The black haired girl only smiled and gave Bren a wave. Bren shyly waved back, a blush rising on his face.

"Jerk," Rose grumbled into Dax's side. Dax chuckled at Rose's anger. He gently pet her hair before going back to his breakfast.

"So Rose," Chase addressed their medic. "I heard you got an apprentice yesterday. That's pretty sweet, huh?"

Rose shrugged. "I guess. I never thought of myself as a teacher."

"You are a very maternal young woman," Beyal said while still looking at his book. "Maybe Jon felt you were ready to take on this task."

"I suppose," Rose mumbled.

Dax slapped her on the back. The force caused pain to run up Rose's spine. She winced, but Dax didn't notice. "Don't be so modest, Sweetie! You've moved up in rank! None of us can say that!"

When Rose felt she could breathe again she gave her friends a weak smile. She believed their praise was genuine, but it was also to try and validate their decision to keep her on Cloud Carrier Epsilon. They were trying to make her feel better since she couldn't leave. Everyone else was traveling and saving the world one Monsuno fight at a time. Rose on the other hand couldn't remember the last time she launched her own Monsuno, Vertigo.

She missed the thrills of traveling across the continent. She missed sleeping under the stars. Travel led her to finding all sorts of plants she had only seen in Ryu's books and scrolls. Rose wanted to experience it again.

"So what's this trainee like?" Chase asked. "Is she cute?"

"Hm? You mean Samantha?" Rose looked around the cafeteria to see if her apprentice was around.

The medic spotted Samantha sitting at a table by the huge windows that let in light. Rose couldn't hear her, but it appeared the blue haired teen was having an excited conversation with other new recruits at the table. One was a chubby green haired girl with glass that wore the standard training uniform for a S.T.O.R.M elite. The other was also in a trainee S.T.O.R.M elite uniform. He seemed bored and sleepy. His lilac colored hair kept falling in his face, causing him to have to brush it back out of his eyes constantly. Samantha's white and blue medic training uniform caused her to stick out like a sore thumb amongst all the black.

"She's really nice. There's so much energy inside her. I wonder how she's going to sit through all the safety procedures and plant lessons." Rose rested her head on her hand. Her plate was now empty and she was considering getting seconds.

"I'm sure it'll work out. I mean, you taught us what plants not to touch and what mushrooms were safe." Chase gave Rose a reassuring smile.

Rose snorted a laugh. "Yea, right after we all got poison ivy rashes and Bren ate a mushroom that made him hallucinate tree frogs everywhere."

The teens laughed at the memory. All except for Bren who shivered at remembering all those eyes looking at him. Tree frogs terrified him to death.

"So what did the old man think of the baby medic?" Dax said with a smirk.

"Felix actually sort of tolerates her. I mean, instead of a greeting he told Samantha to stay far away from his things, but it's better than the cold shoulder he gave me for weeks when I first started working under him. It's a bit hard for him to open up. Just like someone I know," Rose placed her hand over Dax's. The lowlander blushed in response.

"Maybe you just have the magic touch," Dax laced their fingers together.

"If we're kind and polite, the world will be right," Rose said.

Bren scoffed. "Where'd you get that? A fortune cookie?"

" _Paddington_ ," Rose answered. "The second film, actually."

Rose spent about an hour talking to her friends. It was great to actually be up for once. After a cup of coffee and seconds of breakfast, along with thirds of breakfast, Rose felt confident that today was going to be a good day. If only it could be like this every day for her. She'd be fine until Dax left on another mission. Then the medic would just fall back into her old patterns.

"Oh krag," Rose looked at the clock on the wall. "I need to get ready for work. I need to check on Siarl too." She stood from the table, grabbing her tray.

"Is Samantha going to help with him today?" Jinja asked. "You do a lot to take care of Siarl, along with trying to figure out a cure to wake him up. You could really use the help."

Rose shook her head. "I can't let Samantha back there with me till I've taught her the basics and safety precautions. I told her to just come in at ten this morning." She turned to Jinja and Beyal. "Good luck on your mission. With Alpha tailing behind you two, you'll need it."

Jinja just scoffed. "I'm a big girl, Rose. I can take care of myself. Alpha will be the one crawling to you for healing by the end of this."

Rose gave Jinja a high-five. She turned to Dax on the bench. "Bye-bye Dax. I'll see you at dinner?"

"What about lunch?" Dax tilted his head.

"I'm spending it with Samantha so we can get to know each other better."

"Oh, that's cool, Sweetie. I'll see you at dinner then," Dax squeezed her hand.

Rose grinned like a lovesick fool. She didn't know what came over her. She was feeling brave today. The medic laced her fingers in Dax's dreads, pulling him closer until he was only millimeters away from his face. "Bye, baby. I'll see you later."

She kissed his lips softly. When pulling away, Rose saw the blush that took over Dax's face. She barely caught the shiver that took over his body for just a second. Boy, did she enjoy that. Dax pulled her back to him and kissed back, hard. He had to show dominance in front of the others.

Rose was flustered from the kiss. It made her lightheaded. When they pulled apart, Rose noticed the recruits at Samantha's table were staring. Samantha looked down, clearly uncomfortable from seeing her teacher displaying public affection. Core-Tech was used to Dax and Rose's daily goodbyes at this point. Rose was thankful the teasing from them had died down.

"I love you," Rose whispered.

"Love you too," Dax replied.

With that, Rose emptied the trash on her plate into the trashcan and returned her tray. After a quick shower, she slipped into her new uniform. It was a pair of blue and black scrubs. The fused S.T.O.R.M and Core-Tech symbol was embroidered on the left side of the chest. It was nice to move up from white and blue to black and blue. Rose just wished it hadn't been to trap her. With one last look in the mirror to make sure she was work ready, Rose headed to the medical wing of Cloud Carrier Epsilon.

* * *

Siarl still had not changed. His condition had neither improved nor worsened overnight. That meant the medicine Rose injected him with last night was another failure. She made a note on a clipboard. Jeredy would need to be notified. Things were beginning to feel hopeless for the boy.

Rose wondered what would happen if he died. Charlemagne would be devastated for sure. She definitely did not want to be the one breaking the news to her. Felix had been notifying her of Siarl's progress during his visits. He had told Rose that Charlemagne was not impressed with their efforts. Rose had no clue what kind of mom Charlemagne was, but she knew the former Commandant Marshall of S.T.O.R.M was just worried about her son.

The squeak of an opening door caught Rose's attention. The medic looked up and locked with the bright green eyes with a young woman around her age. Her long red hair was braided into pigtails that hung loosely over her shoulders.

The girl placed her hands on her hips, looking around the room. "Huh. It was easier to get in here than I thought."

"Abby?" Rose cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What the krag are you doing here? You can't be back here!"

"You remember me, Rosie?" Abby placed a hand on her chest. "I'm flattered."

"How could I forget patching up that horrible gash on your arm? I never got the blood stains out of that outfit." Rose smoothed the sheets on Siarl's bed. She casually checked the IV delivering water to the boy's veins. "Plus I could never forget Alpha's cousin."

"You still scared of that silly pushover?" Abby laughed.

Rose's face paled. She tried shaking it off. "That's not the point. Abigail, you really can't be back here."

"Then why didn't you lock the door? Why didn't anyone lock the waiting room doors either if you weren't taking patients? This is my first time in this cloud carrier thingie and already I'm unimpressed with the amount of security here." Abby rambled as she made her way over to where Rose was standing next to Siarl.

Rose cursed softly under her breath as Abby stood next to her. The red head glanced over Siarl's body curiously. Rose had to cut her off from asking any personal questions. She knew Abby had a hard time keeping a secret.

"Why are you here, Abigail?" Rose asked as she held Siarl's chart close to her chest, hiding the information. Friend or not, patient confidentiality was a priority.

"To visit Chase, Bren, and Jinja of course!"

"And Beyal?"

Abigail blushed at Rose's comment. "Well, yeah, of course! When Chase said you guys landed close to my hometown I got really excited. I took a two hour bus ride and hiked for another hour just to come see everyone, but so far you're the only person I've found. This place is like a maze."

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but you aren't going to see Beyal. He went on a mission with Jinja, Alpha, and Tango." Rose shrugged at Abigail's defeated look.

"Awwwwww. Figures," Abby groaned. "What sort of mission are they on?"

"I don't think I'm allowed to tell you that." Rose replied.

"There's no point in keeping secrets from me, Rosie. I'm just going to find them out eventually." Abigail poked Rose's belly.

"Why else are you here? No normal person sneaks onto a highly advanced military base just to visit their friends," Rose huffed and crossed her arms.

"Well, there is one other reason I'm here," Abby leaned close to Rose and whispered in the medic's ear, "I want to get some sort of scoop for the school paper. Since Charlemagne got arrested the whole continent wants to know what S.T.O.R.M is all about. It's what all the kids in my high school are curious about."

"You can't just come in here looking for secrets!" Rose snapped. "It could ruin dad's-I mean- Commandant Marshall Jon Ace's attempts to use S.T.O.R.M to keep everyone safe from the Monsuno and their controllers."

"Aw, c'mon. I can't leave empty handed!" Abby pleaded. "Hey! How about I just interview you?"

"Nnn, I don't know." Rose bit her lip. She didn't know how Jon would feel about giving even a small amount of information to some random high school girl.

"Please, Rose?" Abby grabbed her hands. "Please, please, pleaaaaaase?"

Rose's stress tolerance hit its breaking point. "Ok, fine! You win! You can interview me. Let's just go to my examination room so I can take something for my headache."

"Yay! You're the best friend ever!"

Rose led Abigail back into the waiting room and through another door into her examination room. The room felt more like a garden than a doctor's office. The walls were painted a light mocha color. A large window lit up the room with natural light. Herbs were everywhere. Herbs were organized in jars, boxes, in distilled liquids, in pouches, and in drawers. Each had its own label with the herb's name and purpose. Plants sat growing on shelves, basking in the sunlight. The tendrils of some plants were growing so long that they brushed the two girls' heads as they made their way to two chairs by the window.

Before sitting next to Abby, Rose opened a jar and pulled out some feverfew. The young woman popped it in her mouth and swallowed the herb. She didn't have time to put on tea for her and Abby. The girl needed to be escorted out of the building as soon as possible before the both of them got in trouble. Plus, Samantha was going to be here for her lessons in forty minutes.

Rose plopped down next to Abby. "So, what do you want to ask me?"

"Did you just eat that plant whole?" Abby looked at Rose like she grew a second head.

"So?"

"Are you part rabbit? Chase says Monsuno essence was used to keep you from dying. Did it make you part rabbit?" Abby's eyes were sparkling curiously.

Rose felt slightly insulted by the question. Eating the feverfew was no different than eating a salad. "Ok, ask me some serious questions."

"What was wrong with that kid you were checking on?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Of course you can't," Abby huffed. "He looked really sick."

"You should have seen him when he first came here," Rose shivered, "It was pretty gruesome. I can't give you details, but he was brought in and I'm in charge of taking care of him until further notice."

"So what do you do here mostly?" Abby pulled out a notepad and a pen.

"I help people. I give check-ups, exams, physicals, blood tests, mend broken bones, and I can even diagnose and treat a lot of things." Rose listed off.

Abby scratched the answers down diligently. "What kinds of injuries have you seen on missions lately?"

Rose squeezed her hands tightly in her lap. "Actually, Jon has me stay here. At least until I get better. He gave me an apprentice and made me a full medic."

"Congrats!" Abby congratulated and pat Rose's leg.

As Abby was writing and continued her basic questions, Felix walked into room. He barely acknowledged the two girls as he crossed the room and began looking through Rose's herbs. She was about to address Felix to ask what exactly he needed when Abby's loud whisper reached her ear.

"Who in the world is that?"

"Who? Him? That's Felix. He's my boss," Rose replied.

"Wow, I've never seen a man so tall and what's up with his skin and hair? What's his deal? He looks like a ghost!" Abby exclaimed. Even though she was whispering it was all too loud.

Rose feared Felix had overheard when he turned to face them, but he did not reply to Abigail's ghost comment. Instead he lifted up a jar of mint leaves to show Rose.

"I'm borrowing this," Felix deadpanned before leaving the room.

As soon the door shut, Rose glared at Abigail. "You can't just comment on people like that while they're in the room! What if he heard you?"

"So what? I'm sure he gets it all the time."

"That's the point. Felix is kind of sensitive about his condition," Rose looked worriedly back at the door.

"Oooh, tell me more. I want to know about him." Abby pulled her pen and notepad back out, ready to hear more gossip.

"No, I really can't tell-," Rose began, but was cut off by the sound of pounding footsteps.

The door to Rose's examination room was slammed open. The door hit the wall so hard that one of Rose's plants fell from the shelf, shattering on the ground. After the spray of dirt cleared, Rose saw that it was Commander Trey that had entered the room and boy did he look peeved.

It took Rose a moment to register that the commander was also dragging one of the new recruits behind him by the arm. It was the chubby green haired girl from Samantha's table. Looking closely at the recruit they appeared more gender ambiguous than Rose had originally thought. The recruit's eyes were darting nervously around the room.

Trey glared at Abby. "I'm sorry ma'am, but a mistake has been made. You are not allowed to be on board Cloud Carrier Epsilon. One of our recruits has made a _terrible mistake_." The recruit visibly recoiled at Trey's words. "And now Billie is going to apologize to you."

"I'm sorry. It's just, she did give ID." Billie mumbled, looking at their feet.

"It was a high school ID!" Trey roared.

Abby shrugged and began to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. Rose was frozen with the fear of being caught. S.T.O.R.M had so many rules and Commander Trey loved to yell about every single one. The intensity of the situation was beginning to stoke her anxiety.

Felix poked his head into the room. "Hey Trey, if you don't mind, Rose and I have patients to tend to along with Rose's new little pet student. Take the yelling outside."

Trey grunted. He opened his mouth and then closed it. Taking orders from Charlemagne's brother was the last thing he wanted, but Felix was pretty threatening. Plus, he did ask nicely.

"What is your purpose here?" Trey demanded from Abby.

"I went to school with Chase, Bren, and Jinja. When you guys landed, Chase messaged me wanting a visit. I got lost and Rosie was just keeping me company," the red head replied, only half lying.

Commander Trey sighed. "Ok, come along with me. I'll take you to the Suno kid."

He guided Abby back out into the waiting room. Billie then decided to speak up.

"Um, what do you want me to do now, sir?" they asked.

"Get back to the front gates and see to opening the gates, gate opener!" Trey snapped. Billie hustled out of the room immediately.

Rose's eyes narrowed. "You didn't have to be so mean."

Trey growled. He got in Rose's face, so close their nose's almost touched. "Be lucky I'm not going to tell your dad about this. If you like your position, I suggest you start following the rules."

Rose couldn't find a comeback fast enough. Trey was already out the door. The medic slumped in her chair. She tried to take slow deep breaths to calm herself down.

Samantha entered the room soon after Trey left. "Yo teacher, I don't know what you guys did to tick Commander Trey off, but he's steaming mad. I could see the steam roiling off him as I passed him in the hall."

"He's just a stick in the mud," was all Rose could manage as a reply.

"Do medics always anger their higher-ups?"

"More often than you think."

* * *

Samantha's training had a rocky start. It did not help that Rose wasn't used to being a teacher. She tried to remember how Ryu and Felix taught her, but their methods of teaching just didn't fit her. She wasn't as knowledgeable and sure of herself like Ryu was. She didn't have the precise and intelligent words Felix used. Rose was just a squishy shy woman with not an assertive bone in her body.

At least Samantha had safety measures down pat. That meant she could work with Rose and begin handling equipment. Rose considered that hands on training would be a better method. It was worth a shot. The young medic would have to try that with Samantha the next day. After a whole day of going through everything from washing hands to disposing of biohazards, Rose and Samantha were beat.

"Want to meet tomorrow again at ten in the morning?" Rose asked her student.

Samantha nodded. "Sure, this was really fun. Maybe we can do CPR next time?" She gave Rose finger guns.

"Sure, I think the dummy is still in the closet." Rose made notes. "CPR is a great place to start and very useful."

"You don't get jokes easily do you? That was supposed to be a dirty joke." Samantha raised an eyebrow. The trainee felt awkward explaining this to her own superior. She was beginning to regret making it.

It slowly dawned on Rose what Samantha said. Her cheeks heated up at the realization. "Oh! Um, hahahaha, yea that's pretty funny. But in all seriousness, we should do CPR. It's way more hands on."

"Cool! I'll see you tomorrow, teacher." Samantha gave Rose a brief hug before leaving.

Rose sighed in relief. That went better than she thought it would. The medic began to tidy up the room. She swept the floors and sterilized all the surfaces in the room along with her equipment. Not to mention she still had some mess to clean up from when Trey knocked over one of her plants earlier. Her day wasn't quite over yet, sadly. Next time she needed to hold Samantha back to help with the cleaning. Today she'd let it go.

While organizing the jars of herbs, Rose was hit by a crippling wave of pain all over her left side. She squeezed her eyes tightly, bracing herself against the countertop. The jar the young woman was holding dropped from her hand and shattered on the ground. Rose grit her teeth and took deep breaths through the stabbing pain.

"It's ok. I'm ok. It's ok. I'm ok." Rose kept repeating it like a mantra as the pain began to fade.

As the last of the pain rolled through her body, Rose remembered her dream and what Ryu had told her. The Dream Ryu had instructed her to locate the pipe and Shade plant in his old office. It seemed ludicrous. It had all been just a dream. Right?

But what if it was a vision? What if it was her mentor speaking to her from the beyond? Maybe this was some sort of sign. It could possibly be a breakthrough. If anything, it was worth a shot. Weirder things have happened.

After cleaning up the broken glass and scattered herbs, Rose headed into Felix's examination room. The white haired medic was finishing up a report on an elite's broken leg. When Rose entered, he tiredly looked up.

"You ever heard of knocking, kid?" he grumbled.

"O-oh, sorry Felix," Rose gave a couple soft knocks on the wooden door.

Felix pointed to the seat next to the small table where he was working at. This was where patients would usually have consultations with him. Rose took that as an invitation to sit. The young medic watched Felix scribble notes. His handwriting was relatively neat, but his pace made the letters look sloppy like any other doctor's note. She was having trouble finding the words to the question she wanted to ask the older man.

"What do you want?" Felix asked abruptly. Rose jumped in her seat.

"What makes you think I want anything?"

"Kid, it's written all over your face. Just ask, but I swear you better not ask for a day off. You are not leaving me alone with your trainee," Felix grumbled, continuing his scribbling.

"Well," Rose swallowed the thick lump in her throat, "I was wondering if you had the key to get into Ryu's office. I know Charlemagne had it locked up after he passed."

Felix stopped his writings to look at Rose. A look of confusion covered his slender face. He took a moment to adjust his glasses as he regained composure. "Why in the world would you ever want to go in that musty old room?"

"I just miss Ryu, that's all." It wasn't the whole truth, but she couldn't tell Felix the reason she wanted to look around Ryu's office was because of a dream. "He was my first mentor. Joining back with S.T.O.R.M is bringing back a lot of memories."

Felix nodded thoughtfully. "You're probably the only person that misses that little menace." He ignored Rose's glares. "I had nothing against the man. He seemed stable enough. I thought he even appreciated Charlemagne keeping him around, giving him a job. But the death of his family and the event's connection to S.T.O.R.M made something in his head break. Poisoning my sister was what really got him on my bad side."

"You don't know if it was him!" Rose snapped. "What if she caused that accident? What if Charlemagne killed him just to get rid of him? She never liked him. She just kept him around because there were no medics at the time."

Felix slammed his hands on the desk. His eyes looked steely and his face hardened, accentuating the lines around his mouth. "Stop with the hero worship! Who else could it have been, Rose? You? You were the only other person that would know the herb that was poisoning Commander Trey and Charlemagne, but I know you of all people are way too soft for petty murder."

Rose looked down at the desk, avoiding Felix's eyes. Anxiety bubbled in her chest. Felix rarely raised his voice. She knew he cared for his sister. The matter shouldn't have been pushed. It had happened years ago and Ryu was dead now so it didn't matter anymore.

"I'm sorry," Rose mumbled. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Felix's face softened. He placed his hands on Rose's shoulders. "It's ok. I may have gone slightly overboard. I did not mean to lose composure with you. You are still just a child." He pulled a key ring from his pocket. Rifling through a few keys he found what he wanted. He pulled off a small silver key and handed it to Rose. "Here, just take it. Bring it back to me when you're done."

The key was small, but felt solid and heavy in Rose's hands. "Thank you Felix."

"No problem."

"Can I ask you one more question?"

Felix sighed. "What now?"

"Why did no one take over Ryu's office after he died?"

Felix took a moment to gather his thoughts. He looked almost hesitant to answer the question. "We tried to clean it, multiple times in fact, but we could never finish. Something about Ryu's office felt off. It was like the air was constricting our lungs. I went in their once alone to clean it because I thought it would make a good spot to put bedding for patients that needed to be monitored. After a few minutes I felt so ill that I could barely stand. After finally getting out of there I threw up this black liquid. No light reflected from it, but it had a purple sheen to it. As soon as it hit the floor, it evaporated into a mist."

Rose gasped in horror. She could see the haunting image clearly. Felix nodded and continued.

"I decided to never go back in there. I locked up the room and it's been undisturbed since." Felix chuckled. "Wow that actually felt good to get that off my chest. Plus your horror struck look was rewarding."

Rose shivered. The young medic wrapped her arms around herself, feeling the goosebumps on her arms. Was the room haunted? Rose wouldn't put it past Ryu to be so petty that he would haunt his old office.

"I'm not going to stop you from rummaging through his things, but I am warning you to be careful. If you feel sick, get out," Felix advised. Rose nodded in agreement.

With one final thank you to Felix, Rose left his office. She slowly walked to the door at the end of the hallway, beginning to regret her choice. Ryu liked being away from everyone else so he chose an office at the end of the hall. Since he was all the way down the hall, people tended to leave him alone. It was creepy to Rose. It felt like the lights didn't reach all the way back here. She felt lost, isolated.

Standing in front of the door drove a wave of fear up Rose's spine. She feared she'd open the door and would see a ghostly Ryu working at his desk, pipe tight between his teeth and smoking. Felix's story was getting to her. The young woman shook the fear off. She was determined to find that pipe.

With a burst of courage, Rose stuck the key in the lock. With a simple turn, Rose opened the door and stepped inside.


	4. Chapter 3 - Invasive Species

**Author's Note: No ocs in this chapter. Also warnings for body horror.**

* * *

"How much farther till we get to the source of the Monsuno energy, Tango?" Alpha asked tiredly.

Alpha, Jinja, Beyal, and Tango had been hiking up the mountain all morning. The sun now sat high in the sky. The journey was not grueling. The fresh mountain air mixed with the fact that it was spring time made the weather tolerable. This sadly did nothing for how much climbing was involved. That was the hard part.

Since the signal was coming from a different valley a little ways from Cloud Carrier Epsilon, the group was forced to scale part of the mountains. All the climbing was beginning to wear the group down. As Alpha slipped for the fifteenth time his patience finally snapped.

"Tango, did you hear me?!" the red head growled.

"Hold your horses, Alpha. I am pulling it up," Tango snapped back. The black haired girl secured herself against the mountain with her climbing gear. She pulled out the Core-Tablet Bren had given her. He had installed a map and coordinates to their destination on it. Her brown eyes studied it close. "We are almost there. A few more feet and then we begin the decent."

Alpha sighed in relief. "Thanks Tango."

Tango nodded. She returned the Core-Tablet to her pack and continued climbing. Soon the group reached a ledge that they could walk on. Beyal was the first to reach it and pulled himself up. His excellent climbing skills made him a perfect candidate for this mission. Living in the mountains his whole life made the terrain his home turf. The monk helped pull Jinja up to the ledge and Tango after. Alpha's face turned red when the white haired boy offered him a hand.

"Let me help you up, brother Alpha. It looks like you are struggling," Beyal said.

"Pfft! I can handle it, monk boy," Alpha replied, "And we are not brothers, by the way."

Beyal shrugged, moving back to give Alpha space to climb up. Alpha's hands just made it onto the ledge when his left foot slipped from the rock he was using as a foothold. The Strike Squad leader's hands lost their grip on the ledge. Alpha's eyes went wide with fear as he began to fall.

Just like that, Beyal's hands were around Alpha's wrists. The monk was desperately trying to pull the red head back up.

"Jinja! Tango! Help me, please!" Beyal cried out.

The two girls came to Beyal's aide. Jinja grabbed Beyal's waist to keep him steady. Tango went to the white haired boy's side and grabbed Alpha by his right arm. With their combined teamwork and strength, the group managed to pull Alpha up onto the ledge. They sat back against the cliff face panting in exhaustion.

"Alpha, I'm going to kill you when we get back to base," Jinja panted.

"Not if I kill him first," grumbled Tango.

"Hey! It's not like I meant to fall! Not all of us can be part mountain goat!" Alpha yelled. He sent a glare in Beyal's direction.

Beyal gave Alpha a confused look. "But Alpha, I am not a mountain goat. I am a monk, a man of peace and the gods."

Alpha pressed his face into his hands, muffling a small scream. "Ok, whatever, let's just get moving. I want to be back at base tonight. No need to make this a two day mission."

"Agreed," Tango said as she stood. "If we keep taking this path, then we will reach our location in about forty minutes.

"Good," Alpha said while giving the black haired girl a snide smile. "Let's hope your nerd boyfriend's coordinates are any good."

Tango gave an indignant huff and stormed down the path. Alpha followed close behind. When the two Strike Squad members walked ahead, Jinja made sure to stay behind with Beyal. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't listen to Alpha, Beyal. He's just cranky. You're nothing like a mountain goat. Well, you are nothing like a mountain goat aside from having wicked mountain climbing skills. I think he's just jealous and doesn't know how to express his feelings," Jinja explained.

Beyal nodded. "I understand, Jinja, but I take no insult. Mountain goats are beautiful creatures."

The path towards the valley was much easier than hiking and climbing up the mountain. The view was also enjoyable. There was something elating about being so high up that it felt like you could touch the clouds. The pleasant atmosphere opened up some room for the group to small talk.

"So there was something I've been meaning to ask," Jinja piped up.

"What is it?" Alpha asked. "I hope it's nothing too personal."

"Why don't you guys have a medic? I mean, you work for a military organization. Wasn't Charlemagne worried you guys would get hurt trying to fight us?"

Alpha turned his head to glance at Jinja. His golden eyes flashed with annoyance, but his voice lacked emotion. "Rose was supposed to be our medic."

"That's vague," grunted Jinja. "She's terrified to death of you. This morning she wouldn't even look at you. I can't see her ever working with you."

"She did, for a little bit at least. We trained together," Alpha looked back at her with slight confusion. "She hasn't told you about her time with the Strike Squad? I know she's at least told your Lowlander friend judging by how he glares at me."

"We know Rose knew you. She grew up on the base the five of you trained at," said Beyal. "We know she dated X-Ray temporarily as well."

Alpha barked out a laugh. "Oh yea, I remember that disaster."

"So what happened?" Jinja was feeling really curious now.

"Rose just didn't have what it takes to roll with us. She's sensitive and has way too much empathy."

"That is not the full story." Everyone looked up at Tango's words. "You know that is full and well not the full story, Alpha. You broke her."

Alpha looked down at the ground. He clenched his fists. "I did what Charlemagne told me to do! We all did what she told us to do!"

Tango stopped and fully turned around. "Abandoning her during training exercises? Purposefully harming her during sparring? You used her as your personal punching bag. When you left her in that muddy ditch in the rain to get sick and starve during that training mission she finally wised up and left Strike Squad. I do not blame her for quitting and finding new work training under Ryu."

"Charlemagne told me to make her war ready!" Alpha argued.

"Charlemagne told us to hurt her! She hated Jon so she told us to hurt her and you were the only one that listened!" Tango cried out. "I have been keeping this bottled up for years, Alpha. You hurt an innocent girl because Charlemagne wanted you to prove that you would do anything to be leader and not end up back home! Just at admit it Alpha!"

Alpha glared at the dirt for a minute before answering. "What was I supposed to do? Tell her 'no'?"

Tango sighed. "You have a lot to repent for, Alpha. You should start with apologizing to Rose." The young woman glanced down at the Core-Tablet in her hands. "The source of the Monsuno energy is ahead. Let us get some info for Jeredy."

Tango marched ahead. Alpha walked close behind, trying to stammer out some sort of apology or explanation that was unintelligible. Jinja and Beyal lingered behind. The two Core-Tech members were shocked by the answers they got from Tango and Alpha's argument.

"Yikes!" whispered Jinja.

"I could not find a better reaction, Jinja," Beyal whispered back to her.

* * *

After Tango and Alpha's argument the group decided it would be best not to talk for the rest of the decent to their location. The tension in the air was so thick one could cut it with a butter knife. Alpha kept opening his mouth to speak, but would stop when Tango gave him a sharp glare. Luckily for them their destination wasn't too much further. The path the group took led straight down to the valley where the Monsuno energy levels were radiating from. What they found was startling.

"What the krag is that?" Alpha asked incredulously.

The group was met with a field of flowers. It looked like an ocean of purple and lavender lay before the group. The flowers gently swayed in the mountain breeze. There seemed to be no end to them. It was as if they filled up almost the entire valley.

"This can't be where the Monsuno energy levels are coming from," Jinja said as she looked over the valley. "Do you think something is hiding in them?"

"I do not know," Tango added, "But it surely smells awful here."

When a breeze blew over the flowers, Jinja smelled it. The odor of the flowers smelled sickly sweet and rotten at the same time. The ginger haired girl covered her mouth and nose with a hand.

"Ew! It smells like rotten meat and cake," Jinja groaned.

"Agreed," mumbled Beyal. He had pulled up his robes around his face. Alpha had also placed a gloved hand over his nose and mouth.

Tango peered around the area. "Well, let me capture these readings. After the Core-Tablet is finished scanning we can report back to Commandant Marshal Jon Ace."

With a few taps the Core-Tablet began to whirr. Tango held up the tablet in view of the flowers. The screen flickered as the machine started analyzing the energy radiating from the area. Percentage signs and arrows began pointing to the flowers and the valley area. It would take around five to ten minutes for the program to do its job.

Since there was nothing else to do Jinja, Alpha, and Beyal decided to look around. Alpha approached the flowers to take a closer look. Jinja and Beyal began to walk around the area, staying close to the cliff face.

"For being so stinky, at least they are pretty," Jinja rambled. "This trip has gone a lot better than I thought it would."

Beyal looked thoughtfully at the flowers. His brow was furrowed and his eyes narrowed in deep thought. "I am not sure we should be celebrating yet, Jinja. Something about these flowers is…off."

Jinja frowned. She knew better than anyone to trust Beyal's instincts, but aside from the foul odor, nothing seemed off about the flowers. She decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Let's head back to Tango. Maybe the Core-Tablet has something to say about this." Jinja suggested.

As Jinja and Beyal began to make their way back to the group, Alpha was examining the flowers. He watched them blow back and forth in the breeze. The sea of purple was almost hypnotic in a way.

"Any data you can make out from the Core-Tablet yet, Tango," Alpha asked, not taking his eyes off the flowers in fear that they would shift and change if he looked away.

Tango shook her head. "It just keeps saying Monsuno energy is radiating from this area."

Alpha crouched in front of the field to take a closer look at the plants. The smell was even strong lower to the ground. It almost overpowered him. A sudden thought hit Alpha.

"Hey, if we can't find anything, we should at least take a sample of one of these flowers back to Jeredy."

Tango wasn't paying attention. She was mumbling to herself as she read the numbers and notes the Core-Tablet was spitting out at her. The red head sighed. Did anyone ever listen to him?

Alpha reached out and brushed one of the flowers. No spores or pollen ran off it. It appeared like any normal flower. He had never seen this species before. He'd have to ask Rose if she had seen anything like this before.

Strike Squad's leader plucked the flower. He grunted in frustration from getting mostly the flower itself and barely any of its stem and leaves. The flowers petals were definitely a lovely shade of lavender. It was probably the prettiest flower Alpha had ever seen. It was a shame it smelled too odd to warrant planting it in a pot for decoration.

Suddenly the flower twitched in Alpha's hand. He thought it was the wind blowing its petals at first, but then it moved again. The movement was too deliberate and jerky to be just a breeze moving it. To Alpha's shock the flower began to grow in size. At first it fit in the middle of the teen's palm, but soon grew to the size of his whole hand.

As the flower grew, leg-like vines emerged from what was left of its broken stem. The new limbs studied Alpha's hand hurriedly like a bug. Before the red headed teen could fling the flower creature off it began skittering up Alpha's armored arm.

"W-what th-the krag!" Alpha stammered in fear.

Tango looked up at Alpha, but could only see his back due to him facing away from her. She cocked an eyebrow at her leader. "Alpha?"

Alpha attempted to hit the flower with a gloved hand. He managed to crush a few of the flower's petals. To Alpha's horror this did nothing to stop the purple flower monster. With a shiver, the flower regenerated its petals. Alpha's fighting only seemed to anger it. Longer thorn covered vines sprouted from the plant's base and wrapped around the assaulting hand. It squeezed so tightly around Alpha's wrist that he could not pull away and felt like it was cutting off circulation.

The flower found what it wanted in the crook of Alpha's elbow where the white armor ended and his body suit began. The black material was water, fire, and bullet proof. It would usually protect Alpha's skin in most situations, but not now. The plant's spiny vine legs easily tore through the fabric. As soon as skin was revealed, the vile creature's limbs burrowed into Alpha.

Alpha shrieked in agony, alerting Tango in the process. She immediately ran to Alpha's side only to cry out in horror at what she saw happening to her leader. Jinja and Beyal were also alerted by their cries. The two Core-Tech members sprinted back towards their companions. What they witnessed upon arrival horrified them.

The flower monster was buried deep in Alpha's arm. Blood dripped from its point of entry. Alpha, in a panic, had ripped off the armor on his forearm and shoulder. They could clearly see vines wriggling under his skin. He was in agony. It felt like fire was under his skin. The red head began desperately clawing at his skin.

"What the hell happened?!" Jinja cried upon arrival. "What's going on?!" Beyal was next to Jinja, so shocked and terrified that all he could do was mutter prayers under his breath.

Tango was desperately trying to help Alpha. She grabbed at the plant creature. The young woman pulled out chunks of petals in an attempt to get to the plant's center and kill it. This did nothing to hinder the creature. It regenerated the petals at a rate faster than Tango could pull them out. In fact, the plant was growing in size. "I don't know! I just heard Alpha scream and turned around to find this thing on him!"

"It…it's inside me!" Alpha whimpered in panic. He continued to claw at his arms. His nails left red and bloody tracks. The vines squirmed angrily under his flesh. "H-Help! Help! Oh God it hurts!"

"We are trying, Alpha!" Tango said, trying to keep her voice even. She turned to Jinja and Beyal. "Quick, help me get this armor off him!"

Jinja and Beyal rushed over to Alpha's side. Jinja began to undo the hooks to Alpha's back piece and Beyal worked on his chest. Tango continued to tug at the plant rooted in Alpha. Once the armor was off things didn't look much better.

"Oh I'm going to vomit," Jinja moaned. "There are more vines under his skin!"

Removing the armor only revealed the vines were spreading at a rapid rate. The appendages wiggled, exploring Alpha's stomach and chest. Alpha continued screaming uncontrollably from the pain. He had grown pale and began to sweat profusely.

Sensing more room from the armor being removed, the plant began to react. The flower in Alpha's arm bloomed larger, sprouting more petals. The vines' movement picked up a violent pace causing Alpha to scream even louder. Tango desperately hit and pulled at the blooming flower with all her might.

Alpha shuddered violently. "O-oh God! I think it's going to-!"

Strike Squad's leader was cut off by vines suddenly bursting from his body. The fabric of Alpha's body suit tore like paper where they emerged. The vines were a dark purple, covered in thorns, and slick with Alpha's blood. A bloody vine whipped Tango hard in the face. The girl was sent flying a few feet onto her back. The vines wrapped around Alpha's arms, preventing him from fighting back. As if Alpha even could. He was way too weak. It was as if the flower was draining his life force. He was even becoming too weak to scream. All that came from the boy's trembling lips were hoarse whines.

His torn body suit revealed dark purple bruises from where the vines ravaged him from the inside. The larger bruises on Alpha's chest and stomach quivered. Petals poked through his pale skin. Soon two more flowers emerged from Alpha. They spread their vines inside of him. The whole process was about to start over and there was nothing the group could do to stop it.

"What's it doing?" Jinja gasped breathlessly.

The answer suddenly dawned on Beyal. "Breeding."

Tango picked herself up. She felt woozy and her face stung. Pressing her hand against her cheek and looking at it revealed blood. Tango grabbed the Core-Tablet. She immediately pressed the emergency call button to Commandant Marshall Jon Ace.

"Mayday! Mayday! Mission has taken an unexpected turn! We need immediate pick up! Alpha has been infected by…something! We need medics! Please! Hurry!"

Jon Ace's voice crackled from the other end. "We hear you, Tango! Commander Trey and some recruits are on their way to retrieve you right now!"

Tango turned to Jinja and Beyal. "Each of you grab one of Alpha's arms. We need to get back on the cliff immediately."

"We can't just leave these flowers here! They are a danger!" Jinja pulled out Charger's core. "Charger, launch!"

She spun the core. It wheeled through the field of flowers before hitting the side of the valley. The armored blue and tan moose-armadillo hybrid emerged with a beastly roar. It began crushing flowers under its large feet as it examined where it was summoned.

"Time to do some gardening, Charger!" Jinja shouted at her Monsuno. "Use Power Bash to pull up these flowers!"

Charger put its face low to the ground. Its horns sunk into the valley's rich dirt. The Monsuno began to run in a straight line. Its horns pulled up flowers and overturned dirt like a bulldozer.

Jinja pumped her fist in the air. "Take that, body snatching flowers!"

The victory was short lived as Charger fell to the ground. The Monsuno turned its head in confusion. Vines had wrapped around the creature's back legs. The vines then began to glow an eerie purple. Soon the light enveloped Charger. The Monsuno roared in pain and went limp. The flowers were taking Charger's energy just like they had done to Alpha! Flowers began to bloom from Charger's tan skin. It seemed they could infect Monsuno along with humans.

"Krag! Charger, return!" Jinja ordered. Charger dissolved into a sparkling blue mist and returned to its core. The flowers and vines fell onto the overturned dirt.

The danger was not over. Now that Charger was gone, the flowers had turned their attention to the Monsuno controllers. The whole field came alive. All the flowers turned their petals to face the teens. Thorn covered vines sprouted from the dirt and began to reach out for them.

"Run! Run! We gotta go!" Jinja called out.

"Get to the cliff!" Beyal shouted. He supported the side of Alpha that the flower was on. The thorns dug into his neck and face painfully. The monk began to tug Alpha forward. Jinja took up Alpha's other side while Tango activated the tracker on the Core-Tablet so the rescue team could locate them.

The vines were getting closer. They whipped at the group's heels angrily. One almost tripped Tango. Alpha was not helping. He kept moaning and stopping from pain pulsing through his body. Jinja and Beyal had to tug him along. All the while they could feel the vines inside Alpha move. A flower bloomed on the side of his neck. Another sprouted right under his eye. It took Jinja everything she had not to vomit.

They eventually made it up the path onto the cliff side. Looking down, Beyal noticed the flowers had stopped their assault. The vines were receding back into the dirt and the flowers had gone back to being inanimate.

"I think they have stopped trying to get us," Beyal alerted to the others.

"How is Alpha?" Tango asked.

Jinja sighed. "Not much better. I can still feel the vines wrecking him inside. He's its personal flower pot."

Tango clenched her hands. "Then let us keep moving. I…I feel bad for yelling at him earlier. I should not have…"

Jinja gently nudged Tango's shoulders. "He'll be ok. We'll get him to Rose and Felix. They'll be able to stop this. He'll be fine."

Tango nodded and continued moving along the path. Beyal and Jinja followed close behind while supporting Alpha. The red head had gone silent. He was too weak to make noise. Silent tears streamed down his face mixing with drool, sweat, and blood from where the flower under his eye had bloomed. It was like he was a zombie.

They didn't stop moving down the path until they heard the sound of a Cloud Hopper's engine whirring. The teens aside from Alpha desperately waved at the ship. Help had finally arrived. They just hoped it wasn't too late for Alpha.

* * *

Ryu grit his teeth in anger as he took in the damage to his garden. At least half a mile of the Shade flowers had been taken out by that girl's Monsuno. He knelt next to the crushed plants. A trembling hand caressed the petals.

"My poor babies. What did those brats do to you?" Ryu cooed down at the plants.

Ryu trembled as he stood, using his walking stick to help balance him. He couldn't leave his work like this. The Shade flowers were a vital part in his plan to take down that witch Charlemagne. Reaching into his pocket, Ryu pulled out a purple core. Since Rose had Vertigo, Ryu had to get a new Monsuno to aid him. Luckily the black market was willing to take drugs and weapons made from his flowers in exchange for a little genetic engineering. The person that made this was even willing to add the Shade flower to its DNA instead of ore and metals.

"Dredge, launch!" Ryu cried as he spun out the Monsuno.

When the core hit a boulder a cloud of purple smog erupted. From the smog emerged a wiry, dragon-like creature. It was a blackish purple aside from its glowing, lavender eyes. From the tips of its large, twisted horns to its gnarled sharp claws it looked like it was made from the twisted bark of a tree. A wiry tail swished behind the Monsuno. Three humongous Shade flowers bloomed from the beast's back between two leathery wings. Ryu smiled up at the Monsuno.

"Dredge, fix it," he commanded while he pointed at the ruined chunk of his garden.

Dredge opened its long, thin snout. From its maw poured a drool that reeked of compost. It pooled on the valley floor. From the stinking goop more Shade flowers began to sprout. The Monsuno moved around the destroyed area, repairing the damage as it went. Soon it looked as if Jinja, Beyal, Alpha, and Tango had never been there. When it was done, Dredge looked at its master for approval.

Ryu smiled and pet the Monsuno's leg. "Oh Dredge, honey, you did amazing as always." He held up the Monsuno's core. "Now return!"

Dredge dissolved into a smoke cloud and returned to its core with a large bird-like shriek. Ryu smirked. Dredge was such a good, obedient beast. Ordering for the creation of Monsuno was the only good thing Charlemagne had ever done.

While Ryu loved his Monsuno, nothing could beat the partnership he had with Rose. If his planning was right, which he knew it was, Rose would soon be finding his pipe. She would come to his side whether she wanted to or not.


	5. Chapter 4 - Smoke

Rose didn't quite know what to expect when she opened the door to Ryu's office. Maybe some part of her was hoping the ghost from her dream would be sitting there ready to give her answers. Instead she was met with a dusty, old, abandoned office.

The young woman flicked a familiar switch on the wall. The lights flickered to life with a faint buzz and illuminated the room with their dull glow. Rose was impressed that they still worked. She had expected them to be dead due to their disuse.

Ryu's office and examination room resembled Rose's. His room was filled with plants whose vines and leaves had grown to the point that they looked like they were devouring the space. Charts of human anatomy decorated the walls so that Ryu could have a quick reference while working with patients. He had charts that ranged from bones to muscles to organs and everything in between. It seemed the only signs of trying to clean out the room were the three half-filled cardboard boxes left behind.

Rose brushed off a thick layer of dust from the examination table. She then hefted herself up to sit on it so she could gather her thoughts. The medic didn't feel any different when she entered the room. There were no haunted, sick feelings like how Felix had felt. Instead it felt like she was meant to be in here. The only feelings hitting Rose were nostalgia and mourning.

She remembered the days she'd spent sitting next to Ryu at his desk. He would show her large ancient texts filled with data on every plant imaginable. She could still hear the sound of pages turning and the scrape of his fingers as they brushed the words. The smell of plants like lavender and mint still lingered in the room. It was faint under the musty smell.

That's it! The desk! Ryu kept his pipe in the third drawer of his desk. That's probably where it still was. Rose slid off the table. Her feet stirred up a cloud of dust as they hit the floor. She crossed the room to the desk by the window. It had not been touched in any of the attempts of packing up the office. The desk was covered in dust along with the usual contents of Ryu's desk, a cup filled with broken pencils and pens, an older model of a Core-Tablet, a notepad, a sketchbook, stapler, and what looked to be a small flower pot filled with long dead daisies.

Something caught Rose's eye. There was a photograph face down on the desk. Rose flipped it over to reveal an old photo of her and Ryu. She had forgotten this was taken. Rose had taken a selfie of her and Ryu in front of S.T.O.R.M's greenhouse. The young medic had printed it out and put it in a frame for Ryu as a birthday present. Ryu was very fond of it. Rose smiled softly as she returned the picture to its proper upright position.

Ryu's desk drawers were thankfully not locked. While she was here, the young woman was curious about what lay in her mentor's other desk drawers. Rose rummaged through the top drawer only to find empty candy wrappers, paper clips, shoe laces for some reason, and more pens. The second drawer held old patient files that were way outdated. Flipping through them she found files for soldiers that died during all this Monsuno chaos along with files on Commander Trey, her dad, and even Charlemagne herself. The girl pondered for a moment on whether she should give the files to Felix for him to dispose of, but then she remembered her goal was not cleaning out Ryu's office for her higher ups.

Ryu's pipe and smoking accessories were where Rose thought they were: the third drawer. It probably made it easier for him to reach the objects when he was sitting at his desk and slightly hid them from Charlemagne. Ryu honestly didn't need to hide his pipe when he made it clear to everyone on base that he did smoke. Why not place it in that useless top drawer? The contents of the drawer contained the pipe, dried Shade flowers, a mortar and pestle set, and a box of matches. That's how the old man made it. He must have dried the Shade flowers, ground them up, and smoked the powder. Rose grabbed the objects and sat them on the desk.

The pipe was a work of art. It had been hand crafted. From its texture the pipe was most likely made of blown glass. It was a deep purple color. The pipe still looked glossy even after years of disuse. Rose held it shakily in her hands, afraid to drop it.

Rose picked up one of the dried flowers. Dream Ryu's promise of the plant increasing her quality of life rang through her head. Who was she to doubt her teacher's word? He had been such a wise man that taught her about nature and medicine. It would be wrong to doubt Ryu now.

The young medic thought now was as good a time as ever. Rose picked up the Shade flower. She carefully pulled out the seeds of plant before dropping the rest into the mortar. If this worked she would need to grow more of the flowers. Rose pressed the pestle onto the dried petals. They ground into dust easily with a satisfying crunch. The young woman appreciated older methods of creating medicine.

When the Shade flower was ground completely into dust, Rose poured a small bit into the pipe. She remembered Ryu didn't need much. For some reason even a small portion of the plant was highly flammable. Rose's hands shook as she held the pipe in one hand and a match in the other. The match was gripped in her burned hand which shook worse than ever now that the nerves in it had been dulled from her injury. She could barely tell she was holding the match even after striking it and producing a flame.

Rose sat still, questioning whether she should be doing this. As soon as she would get the match close to the pipe, the medic would pull it away. Should she be doing this? Probably not, but it was worth a shot. She would do anything to get better and go out on missions again with Team Core-Tech. What would Dax think if he found out she was smoking? What would her father think? They didn't have to know. Rose hesitated long enough for the match to go out. She cursed and lit another.

The agonizing doubt kept nagging at Rose's heart. As she pondered the pros and the cons of smoking the Shade flower, the room around her began to change. She could feel tension in the air. Something was pressing on her chest, pushing her to hurry up and make a choice. Rose finally decided what she wanted.

When Rose pressed the match against the Shade powder it lit up with bright purple sparks. Coils of dark purple smoke began to rise from the pipe. The sickly sweet smell of the flower hit her nose soon after. It was such a horrid odor, but strangely nostalgic to Rose. It reminded her of all the lessons, missions, and good times she had with Ryu.

Rose put the pipe in her mouth. It was such a foreign feeling. Rose was not much of a smoker. Her only experience with smoking was experimenting with marijuana in an attempt to dull the pain of her injury. Being high was fun, but it didn't do much for her physically. If anything, Rose had gained ten pounds from all the munching she did that week. Smoking a pipe felt much different than smoking a joint. It was heavy and almost felt like she was playing some sort of musical instrument.

The young medic decided to give smoking it a go. Rose breathed in as much of the smoke as her lungs could take. She held it in for a good five seconds before gasping it out with a pained cough. Shade was rough and Rose certainly didn't feel any better. Her body still ached and now her lungs joined the party. After catching her breath, Rose decided to try it again. She breathed in the smoke, held it in, and blew it out. That was a little better.

That was when Rose noticed something. Or, in fact, didn't notice something. She couldn't feel the pain. No dull aches. No burning. No itching. It was gone. Rose momentarily went stiff with shock. Ryu was right. This flower was helping her. She took another drag from the pipe. When she blew the smoke out, the young woman felt better than ever. With each drag, Rose began to feel a little stronger. If she just did this once or twice a day, she'd be fully healed up in no time.

* * *

Miles away from Cloud Carrier Epsilon, hidden in a cave, Ryu bolted awake. The dark skinned man placed a hand on his chest, feeling his heart going a mile a minute. He felt Rose's joy, her relief. Ryu gave a wicked smile. The spell had worked. Rose had smoked from his pipe.

The connection was established.

* * *

Rose was so absorbed in delight from the Shade flower working that she didn't notice someone was behind her. She jumped when two large hands landed on her shoulders. The young woman looked up to see Felix staring down at her.

"Copying Ryu's bad habits, I see," Felix droned.

"D-Don't tell dad," was all Rose could manage to choke out.

Felix chuckled. "Like I even want to willingly talk to Jon? I don't care what you do, kid. Just don't come crying to me when this somehow backfires on you."

Rose's face flushed. "Thanks, Felix…," Rose then remembered the healing properties of the plant. "But it helps me! I don't feel any pain! My dream was right!"

Felix cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "You took up smoking because of a dream? And what do you mean you don't feel any pain? You're a walking sore."

Rose tried to not take insult to that last comment. "Ryu came to me in a dream. He said if I smoked the Shade flower it would help me get better. I tried it and now I don't feel any pain. It actually worked!" Rose grinned. A sudden thought hit her. "Why don't you try it? It could help your condition too." She held the pipe out to Felix.

Felix grimaced and held out his hand. "Thanks, but no thanks. I never really trusted Ryu. The fact a dead man is appearing in people's dreams is ominous. Nothing can treat what I have, Rose. Don't you think I've put time and research into looking for some sort of cure? Miracles don't just drop out of the sky. I advise you not to be so trusting of dreams telling you to do things."

"Ok," Rose mumbled sadly.

Felix turned the chair around so Rose faced him. "Listen kid, I'm not trying to be a downer, but I've seen a lot more evil than good out in the world. Let me level with you. Your trustful nature is going to one day get you and everyone involved in it killed. I need you to start thinking about who you should honestly trust. You trusted Charlemagne and what did she do? She gave you a Monsuno that wanted nothing more than to kill every human it made eye contact with. It almost did kill you. I would think you would have learned from that."

"I just want to believe there is still good left in the world," Rose grumbled.

"There might be, but you really need to look deep into someone before giving them your full trust. Do you understand where I am coming from?"

"Yes, Felix." Rose wanted to please Felix, but inside her anger was bubbling. Felix hadn't known Ryu like she had. He had not spent almost every day at Ryu's side. Who was he to judge her mentor's nature?

"Good. Now pack it up. This office is making me anxious. Plus I'm sure your little boyfriend wants to see you." In a few long strides, Felix was out of the room and in the hallway. Rose could hear his work shoes clacking on the tile as he put as much distance between himself and Ryu's office as he could.

Rose put out the embers in the pipe. The medic found some plastic bags that she used to pack up all she needed to use the pipe again and placed the contents in her medical bag. She would have to see about planting the seeds soon. The sooner she planted them, the sooner they would grow into more plants. She would also have to experiment to see if she could use the flower for medicines as well.

Locking the door behind her, Rose followed Felix. She had to break out into a run to catch up to the much taller medic. Out of breath, she finally reached him. The small young woman still had to take four quick steps to match Felix's stride.

"Are you going to the mess hall?" Rose asked.

"Mhm, like I usually do this time of the evening," Felix answered.

"Would you like to eat with Dax and me?" Rose offered her mentor.

Felix scowled. "As much as I would love to join you and your bad attitude lover, I think I'm going to have to pass."

Rose frowned and looked at the ground, disappointed. "Alright, maybe next time then."

"Maybe," Felix responded.

As the pair reached the lobby they saw a few elites run past. One of them was Billie who looked like they were about to throw up. Rose briefly met eyes with them, wondering why they appeared to be so horrified. Then the screams met her ears. Someone was screaming as if they were dying.

Rose and Felix picked up their pace. Rose almost ran right into Samantha. The blue haired girl wore the same horrified expression.

"Oh dear Monsuno gods, you need to come right now!" Samantha grabbed Rose's hand and dragged her towards the front entrance to the cloud carrier. Felix followed close behind.

Rose could just make out Commander Trey over the crowd of elites that had gathered. Soon Tango's voice could be heard over the soldiers' din.

"Medic! We need medics!" Tango shouted as loudly as she could. "Hurry! I think he's dying!"

"You heard her! Get medics!" Commander Trey ordered. "Find Rose and Felix! Bring them here immediately!"

Rose pushed through the crowd. Samantha had hung back, looking scared and unsure. Rose urged her student to come with her, but Samantha just shook her head. Something was really scaring her. "Don't worry, Commander! Felix and I are-!"

The words died in Rose's mouth as soon as she saw what was causing all the commotion. Alpha lay in Jinja's arms, wheezing in pain. All over his body bloomed purple flowers. The young medic could make out vines and roots burrowing into the Strike Squad leader's skin. She could make out their movement under Alpha's skin. Rose covered her mouth in shock.

When Felix made it through the crowd and finally saw what they were dealing with he too was silent. His eyes darted over the boy, studying his condition. He finally looked down at Rose, meeting her terrified gaze.

"What the hell is going on?" Felix asked. "What are those things?"

Rose shivered. Her legs felt like jelly. It took the young woman everything she had not to collapse. Finally, Rose gasped out the answer Felix, and everyone in the room for that matter, certainly did not want to hear.

"I don't know."


End file.
